Solace DIY Leather Bag Kit Review
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The people at Solace Leather gave me the chance to try out one of their leather bag kits recently. Let me tell you my thoughts and how I got on.
The kit was gifted to me by Solace Leather for the purpose of this review.
When the folks at Solace Leather offered me a leather bag making kit to review I chose the DB506. It looked roomy but not too big and comes with a long cross body strap as well as a smaller handle. I know fashions come and go but I am a child of the 1980s and I will always love the practicality of a cross body bag.
The kit arrived quickly in a well packaged box and contained everything I needed to make my bag except for a lighter which is used to seal the threads after knotting.
This DB506 bag is a really simple style and so there were only 8 precut pieces of leather to sew plus the 2 handles, one long and one short which arrived pre stitched and ready to go.
I have made up a leather bag kit once before so I was familiar with the method of sewing. You use 2 needles, one at each end of a long length of thread, the technique is really easy though so it doesn’t take too long to get the hang of it.
Each piece of leather is punched with all the holes you’ll need for sewing which makes things really easy too.
The kit arrives without any written instructions, Solace leather send a link via email to a very comprehensive You Tube Video tutorial. This was ideal for me but maybe something to bear in mind if you wanted to give a kit like this as a gift. The recipient would need to be someone happy to follow a You Tube tutorial.
I spent 2 evenings making my bag, the estimated 2-4 hours seems about right to me. I wasn’t timing myself but I’m pretty sure I spent about 3-4 hours in total stitching this bag up.
The only slightly tricky part was stitching around the curves at the side of the bag, the pocket piece is inserted between the front and curved sides which makes it a little more difficult to line everything up properly. Luckily Salace leather have thought of that and a few little clips are provided in the kit which really help hold everything in place.
Isn’t it beautiful? The finished bag measures approx. 10” x 8.5” x 4.5” (26cm x 21.5cm x 11.5cm) so a little bigger than my other handbags but not too enormous.
I will update in a year or 2 to let you know how this bag has stood up to normal wear and tear. But for now let’s just admire how cute it looks. I think this will turn out to be a really useful size of bag when I want to carry just a little more around than the bear minimum; days out for example when you might want the usual coin purse, lippy, keys, tissues, phone but also perhaps sunglasses, a pen, sewing kit, perfume, sanitary products, comb/hairbrush etc.
All in all I am delighted with my new handmade bag. It really was super simple to put together, it would be hard to go wrong. All the pieces of leather are accurately cut, the holes lined up perfectly. You are provided with ample thread so if you did go wrong and needed to undo a section you’ve got no worries about running out of thread at all.
The video tutorial is without spoken words, it’s text on the screen and a clear shot of real hands stitching up the kit. I found it very easy to follow, the pace was good and it told me everything I needed to know.
These kits are not cheap but the Solace website says the pieces are all full grain leather. I’m not a leather expert at all so I’ll have to take them at their word, my bag certainly does have a faint leather smell to it.
Use the code JULIECRAFT10 for 10% off any purchase from Solace Leather.
Julie
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